Karachi, At a significant ceremony held in Essa Nagari, Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab laid the foundation stone for a comprehensive restoration project aimed at overhauling the water supply and drainage system in the area. This ambitious endeavor, costing 63 crore rupees, represents a critical step towards addressing longstanding infrastructure challenges in one of Karachi’s densely populated slums.
According to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Mayor Wahab, while speaking at the ceremony, underscored the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) commitment to urban development and service delivery in Karachi. He highlighted the party’s electoral success in the provincial assembly and expressed optimism about PPP’s potential to lead substantial development works in the city, especially if Bilawal Bhutto were to become the Prime Minister. Mayor Wahab emphasized the project’s significance as part of a broader vision to transform Essa Nagari into a model slum, with plans to replicate this initiative in seven other slums across Karachi’s districts.
The project, initiated under the Water and Sewerage Improvement Project (WSSIP), was delayed due to restrictions imposed by the Election Commission but is now set to proceed. It aims to address the critical needs of over 30,000 residents by December, laying new pipelines for water and sewerage, including an underground water tank with a capacity of 150,000 gallons and an overflow tank of 60,000 gallons, ensuring the area’s needs are met until 2050.
Mayor Wahab also took the opportunity to criticize the federal government’s neglect of Sindh and Karachi in budget allocations, citing the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital as an example of the city’s healthcare challenges. He pledged to improve healthcare facilities, including the hospital’s laboratory and nursing schools.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Mayor Karachi Salman Abdullah Murad, Special Representative for Political Affairs Karamullah Waqasi, Deputy Parliamentary Leader Dil Muhammad, UC Chairperson Sanam Baloch, Project Director Usman Muazzam, and other officials. Mayor Wahab’s remarks also touched on political dynamics in the city, questioning the approaches of other political figures and emphasizing PPP’s dedication to equitable development, irrespective of ethnicity or political affiliation.
This water supply and drainage system restoration project not only aims to significantly improve living conditions in Essa Nagari but also sets a precedent for similar developments across Karachi, reflecting the city government’s commitment to addressing its infrastructure challenges head-on.
Geneva, United Nations experts have highlighted the critical role of civil society, human rights defenders, and peaceful protests in achieving a ceasefire and lasting peace in the Gaza conflict. They warned that undue restrictions by States on these groups run counter to international law obligations, potentially hindering efforts to address atrocity crimes like genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and apartheid.
According to Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the experts issued a statement urging States to respect and enable the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, and expression. They emphasized the urgency for States to protect the rights of civil society, human rights defenders, the academic community, and protestors advocating for ceasefire, peace, and justice in both Gaza and Israel. These groups play a pivotal role in ensuring a just and sustainable peace, as well as in ending the grave human rights violations currently being witnessed against the Palestinian population in Gaza.
The statement also criticized recent decisions by Western countries and donors to suspend or restrict funding to Palestinian and Israeli civil society organizations working on human rights, based on allegations of funding diversion to “terrorist entities.” The experts labeled these measures as discriminatory and violative of the rights of associations to seek and use financial resources.
Further, the experts echoed the UN Secretary-General’s calls for member States to reverse their funding suspension to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), highlighting that broad measures against entire organizations contribute to collective punishment against Palestinian civilians.
The UN experts’ statement underscores the necessity of facilitating rather than restricting peaceful protests and rights movements. They advocate for human rights and international criminal accountability to end the crimes against Palestinians. Protecting human rights defenders and fundamental freedoms aligns with the International Court of Justice’s recent ruling, which ordered measures to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, including the preservation of evidence and monitoring of compliance with the court order.